Getting a Killer News Hook

Getting a Killer News Hook

by: Bryan Thompson

Getting a news hook.

When you are going to write a press release probably the most important thing you can do is create a killer news hook. A press release without a news hook is just blatant advertising, plain and simple. There is nothing that turns off journalists more than a press release that’s just advertising, and when you turn them off, they’re often off for good.

So, with this in mind, creating a news hook for your press release and media plan in general is probably the most important thing that you can do. But, how do you do it?

A news hook can be defined as the property in your press release that really makes a person read it and say, ขI’m glad that I read this. This is really news.ข A news hook does not directly try to sell something, but to put some real news in front of the reader and encourage them to learn more about you.

If you are a major company, almost anything you do could be considered news. Take Google, for example. Everything they announce tends to be frontpage news, no matter how small it is. However, your probably not so lucky, so you have to look pretty had.

If you are selling cars in a local dealership, a news hook could be if a local celebrity if performing a function at your dealership or even if they are long time and outspoken customers. If you are selling hair dryers, upgrading your model form XD1000 to XD1001 is not news outside of the hair dryer community. However, there are plenty of ways to generate news out of something that normally cannot be considered news.

To do this, you must ask yourself the 6 questions that every journalist is always asking

Who

What

Where

When

Why

How

If you are able to answer all of these, then you have something that can go onto the next stage. If you are not able to adequately answer these questions, then you have to try again and find something that can legitimately be considered news.

When you have this, then what you must do is think about

What a member of the general public would think about this news

What journalists would think

What a member of your target demographic would think

When you get this, decide how you will address each group. If you want PR, then you will typically have to go through the journalist. The journalist should have a good idea of what the general public wants and what the target demographic wants, so if you have news, they will pass it on.

With this in mind, if you are selling something specialized, and then you should target publications and media that focus on that specific industry. If you have something more general, then you should focus on the more general media.

About The Author

Bryan Thompson is a young entrepreneur and founder of Press Release Writing Online ( Http://www.prwritingonline.com ). In his experience as a freelance publicist, writer and entrepreneur, he has worked with dozens of small, medium and large companies. He is also writing a book on the basics of Publicity for small businesses and managing several other businesses at the same time. You may contact him at [email protected].

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 11

by Bryan Thompson

Overcoming Barriers to Sales

Overcoming Barriers to Sales

by: Richard Gorham

Ever thought to yourself, กIf only my team members would complete the tasks that we mutually agreed to in our action plan.ก

Most managers have felt this way about certain employees at some point in time.

Letกs face it, some employees have a very hard time consistently executing tasks that กshouldก be relatively simple to complete.

So what are the barriers getting in the way of their success?

Actually, there are several types of barriers but perhaps not the typical sort of barriers that you may be thinking.

Barriers can be classified in three major categories. Each category identifies strong barriers that, if not quickly identified and corrected by the team leader, can negatively impact the progress of your team.

The Three Major Types of Barriers are: (Hint: Remember A, B, C)

Attitude Barriers

Behavioral Barriers

Conceptual Barriers

Attitude Barriers

Every employee must take ownership of his or her own attitude.

A manager is NOT in charge of anyoneกs attitude except her own. If an employee has a poor and nonproductive attitude and is not willing to correct it, that is a personal choice and that person needs to be held accountable for that decision.

Quite simply, there are too many quality people who are willing to learn and add value to an organization, for a leader to invest time and money on anyone who makes the conscious กchoiceก to portray a poor attitude.

Keep in mind, if a leader does NOT hold team members accountable for nonproductive attitudes, then he/she has in essence told the team กitกs okก.

Employees’ displaying poor attitudes is NOT ok. A leader should never allow herself to be seen as กsanctioningก this kind of behavior.

Here is a great way to communicate expectations about กowning your attitudeก to your team.

Go to any hardware store and buy the largest coat hook that you can find. ‘the Hookก will be a visual reminder to your team members that you expect them to leave any personal issues or poor attitudes on this hook prior to beginning their day.

(Suggestion: You might want to paint The Hook a bright silver or gold color, and perhaps even mount The Hook on a nice piece of stained wood. Hang The Hook in a common area, away from customer view, where employees will see it often and be reminded throughout the day about your expectations of leaving poor attitudes on The Hook as they do not belong anywhere in the workplace.)

When you introduce ‘the Hookก, and your expectations relating to attitude, you might say something like:

‘rest assured, if you each will make sure to leave all your personal issues on the hook each morning when you arrive, I will take personal responsibility for guarding it on your behalf. I will watch over it for you throughout the day, and I promise that every night when you are ready to return home, it will still be there just waiting for you to take it back home with you. That is my solemn promise to each of you.ก 

Behavioral Barriers

Behavioral barriers equal actions not taken or completed, which hinder the achievement of maximum results.

Behavioral barriers refer to an employee not completing critical sales management tasks as expected despite having mutually agreed to do so.

Managers spend most of their time coaching to behaviors working to increase results of the midlevel and lowlevel producers.

Examples of behavioral barriers include techniques, strategies and skills such as:

Prospecting

Profiling

Telemarketing/scripting

Overcoming objections

Asking for the business

Closing the sale

Following up and managing the relationship

Leaders who are very successful in overcoming behavioral barriers follow this threestep approach in this sequential order:

Managers must TEACH employees what behaviors (actions) are expected

Managers must COACH employees to build their confidence to master sales management behaviors

Managers must EXPECT and hold employees accountable for completing the desired behaviors on a consistent basis

Conceptual Barriers

Conceptual barriers are the absolute most difficult barriers to overcome.

Conceptual barriers are the barriers that are right behind the eyes, DEEP within the brain. กBeliefsก which were planted at a very young age and reenforced over a long period of time which is why they are so hard to กdislodgeก.

Here are a few quick examples of conceptual barriers:

(Think back to your own childhood. Were you ever taught any of the following rules?)

Don’t talk to strangers

It is impolite to talk about money

Never interrupt important people

Wait to be asked

Now think about what you are asking your sales people to do.

Telemarket (cold call)

Profile/Prequalify based on ability to buy

Create new relationships

Do you see how many of the things we were taught as children fly directly in the face of today’s daily sales management expectations?

It is no wonder why some folks have such a difficult time adopting certain routine sales management practices. They are quite literally กhandicappedก by a belief system that limits their potential for success.

As a leader it’s your responsibility to approach performance issues with a clear understanding of these predetermined belief systems. Armed with this knowledge you can more quickly address issues in a way that can help both the sales rep and your entire organization.

About The Author

Richard Gorham is the founder and President of LeadershipTools, Inc. His web site, http://www.leadershiptools.com is dedicated to providing free tools and resources for todayกs aspiring leaders. Offering highquality tools in the areas of Business Planning, Leadership Development, Customer Service, Sales Management and Team Building.

This article was posted on January 01

by Richard Gorham